The Best Christmas Albums of All Time

Listening to Christmas music can be like eating your grandma's holiday fruitcake... a little bit goes a long way.

Between all the shopping, visiting relatives, and bell-ringing Santas on every street corner, we've got enough on our minds at this time of the year without having our ears assaulted by the music of Andy Williams and a chorus of singing Chipmunks.

Sure there are certain Christmas songs and albums that cut through all the crap and commercialism and remind us what this season is all about. But finding them takes some serious digging. Once you've worn out the latest edition of Bill Adler's Christmas Jollies mixtape, where do you turn next? You don't want to entrust your holidays to any radio station song picks.

That's why you should get familiar with Complex's Best Christmas Albums of All Time. They're not limited any particular era or genre. Some would be considered classic, others are very much outside the box, but all are records we keep coming back to again and again—just because we like the way they make us feel. And they never get annoying, even when the holidays put you in a daze.

Best Song: "Silent Night"

Michael, Nathan, Shawn and Wayne's harmonies have never sounded richer than on this semi-acapella vesion of "Silent Night." This aptly titled album combines reimagined classics with originals like "Joyous Song" that take you right back to the days when L.A. & Babface ruled pop music.

Best Song: "Frosty The Snowman"

The Tacoma-Washington surf rock band famous for the Hawaii Five-O theme became the biggest selling instrumental band of all time. Here they tackle holiday standards like "Frosty The Snowman," chopping and thrashing with a bright steely guitar sound that never gets old.

Best Song: "Baby It's Cold Outside"

The cover art sort of says it all: Dean's on the ski slopes hugging on his main squeeze while making eyes at another passing snow bunny. You know how true players play. Gus Levene's orchestra lays down the grooves as Dean Martin croons smooth selections like "It Won't Cool Off" and "Baby It's Cold Outside." Is that fondue ready yet?

Best Song: "All I Want For Ismas"

Roots rock reggae rebel Jacob "Killer" Miller's brilliant career was cut short when he died in a 1980 car crash at the age of 27. The songs here are every bit as irie as the cover image of the big-bellied Rasta dressed like Santa Claus with a big sack of fragrant Holiday greenery. Ray I's DJ version spice things up as well, especially on "Wish You A Merry Christmas" / "Amharic Temple."

Best Song: "The Christmas Waltz"

The most current album on our list is this 2011 release from the duo of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel & musician M. Ward. Their critically acclaimed set wins with simple, fresh arrangements and by remaining 100% free of hipster posturing. Mark our words—these versions of "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" and "The Christmas Waltz" are destined to become yuletide standards for years to come.

Best Song: The Dogg Pound "I Wish"

The cover image of Santa Claus strapped into an electric chair next to a Christmas tree perfecty captures the mood of this gangstafied holiday treast. Big Snoop Dogg's remake of James Brown's "Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto" (featuring Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, and more) packs the most star power, but The Dogg Pound's "I Wish" and Michelle's explicit version of "Siver Bells" are not to be missed. Released just two months of the murder of Tupac Shakur, this album leans a bit too heavily on Death Row's B-team, but we're not mad at Danny Boy's G-funk original "Peaceful Christmas."

Best Song: "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

This is the Mariah you fell in love with, twirling in a short Santa skirt, romping in the snow with white mittens, 24 years old and hot enough to melt snow and ice. Released a year after she married music mogul Tommy Mottola, Mariah's mega-selling Christmas album is over-the-top in all the best ways, and it served as her official coronation as the baddest new chick in pop music.

Best Song: "Sleigh Ride"

She isn't called The First Lady of Song for nothing. Ella Fitzgerald possess one of the most beautiful, perfect voices known to man. But iit don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Best Song: "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)"

This semi-official Arcade Fire EP sounds like a rollicking jam session because that's pretty much what it is. The Montreal-based baroque pop / indie rock band recorded some holiday-themed songs live at a party in 2001, then hand-distributed them as a gift to friends the following Christmas. Though it is not commercially available, it's sweet enough to make it worth scouring the internets.

Best Song: Sammy Davis Jr. "Christmastime All Over The World"

Frank Sinatra is, was, and forever will be The Chairman of the Board and Dean Martin's drunken shananigans never fail to amuse, but Sammy Davis Jr. is the real star of this album. The one-eyed black Jew could do it all better than anybody. When he gets done tearing up "Jingle Bells" there's really no need for anybody else to sing the song ever again. So break out the cocktail shakers, call up some dames, and throw this disc on for a taste of Xmas in Vegas.

Best Song: "Ballin' On Xmas"

The Dipset Capo was literally flying high when he released this icy 10-track album on Koch Records. "We Fly High," the biggest single of Jim's career, was riding the charts, fueled by a Jay-Z answer record over the same beat. The fact that half of the songs on this album have nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas does not detract from its overall appeal. Indeed, the "We Fly High" remix featuring T.I. and Baby still holds up remarkably well, though nothing can match the unmitigated swag of "Ballin' on Xmas."

Best Song: "Sister Winter"

The Detroit-born singer-songwriter is best known for his 2005 indie release, Illinois, particularly the lo-fi classic "Chicago." But starting in 2001 he began recording EPs of refreshingly stripped-down holiday music for friends and family to sing along with. This 5-CD box set collects them all, and like the best presents, they all sound home-made and heartfelt.

Best Song: "Christmastime Is Here"

Legend has it that Lee Mendelson, the producer of the Charlie Brown Christmas TV special, discovered Vince Guaraldi Trio's music while riding in a taxicab. He tracked down the cool West Coast jazz ensemble who ended up composing scores for 16 Peanuts TV specials. Don't front—songs like "Christmas Time Is Here," and "Skating" bring back the days of watching TV in your pajamas.

Best Song: "Carol Of The Bells (Massacre on 34th)"

Chauncey Hollis, the G.O.O.D. Music–affiliated producer who built the tracks for Pusha T's "My God" and The Throne's "Niggas In Paris" as well as Kanye West's "Christmas In Harlem" hooked up with the Surf Club to bless us all with a five-song beat tape last Christmas. Not available for sale at any price, it's worth searching for an unbroken download link to experience the thrill of cuts like "Little Drummer (Hit) Boy."

Best Song: "Up On The House Top"

As Jehovah's Witnesses, the Jacksons did not actually celebrate Christmas themselves, but Joe Jackson's sons pretty much sang what they were told to sing: a mix up secular seasonal standards mixed with a few originals like the lovelorn "Christmas Won't Be The Same This Year" and the light-hearted "Up On The House Top" in which Tito asks Santa for a guarantee that his new guitar won't play out of key. The 1970 Motown release was reissued in 2009 as the Ultimate Christmas Collection with another 11 tracks thrown in—but we think the original cover art with the signed headshots and the red ribbon is way fresher.

Best Song: "Mele Kalikimaka"

Just how big is Bing Crosby? His recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" still ranks as the biggest selling single of all time. Just how popular was the song? The pressed so many copies that the 1941 master of a radio performance wore out and they had to re-record the song from scratch. How old school is this album? It was originally released in 1945, the same year World War II ended, as a set of ten songs on five 78 rpm discs, all of which must have weighed more than your smart phone, onto which you can now download Bing's version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and make your girl feel all warm and fuzzy.

Best Song: Run D.M.C. "Christmas In Hollis"

Jimmy Iovine put together this all-star Christmas album to benefit the Special Olympics, calling on 1980s A-listers ike Run-DMC, U2, the Pretenders, the Eurythmics, Stevie Nicks, Whitney Houston and Madonna, and Bon Jovi. This first album was such a smash that the series expanded to 7+ volumes plus a live disc, but the original is the one you need.

Best Song: "The Christmas Song"

When you imagine someone singing "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." the ultra-smooth voice in your head belongs to the late great Nat "King" Cole. He first recorded "The Christmas Song" in 1946, but the version found on this album is the one everybody knows. The song was so legendary that the album was later reissued as "The Chrismas Song," but the whole album casts a magical spell, especially when combined with generous servings of egg nog.

Best Song: Otis Redding "Merry Christmas Baby"

For all the legendary vocalists on this album—Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, Luther Vandross—nothing here rocks harder than Booker T. & the MG's blazing instrumental versions of "Silver Bells" and "Merry Christmas Baby."

Best Song: "Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto"

Trust the Godfather of Soul to shatter the serene sleepiness of so many holiday songs with this uncut blast of yuletide funk. Not that there isn't genuine emotion behind tunes like "Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto" and "Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year."

Best Song: "Little Saint Nick"

The shaggy-haired southern California quintet were already big stars by the time they released the holiday hit "Little Saint Nick." It's the perfect soundtrack for those who prefer surfboards to sleighbells.

Best Song: Eartha Kitt "Santa Baby"

As if Louis Armstrong singing about "Christmas in New Orleans," "Chistmas In Harlem," and even a "White Christmas" weren't enough to make this album a classic, Satchmo called on a few of his friends. And when your guest list includes Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, Lionel Hampton, Dinah Washington, and Eartha Kitt purring "Santa Baby," you've got a serious party on your hands.

Best Song: "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me"

Elvis Aaron Presley was 22 years old when he dropped this crucial Christmas album. He would live another two decades, but he never sounded more like the King of Rock & Roll than he did in 1957, the year of "All Shook Up," "Jailhouse Rock" and "Teddy Bear." Here he shifts seamlessly from rockers like "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me" to slow jams like "Blue Christmas" and sacred fare like "Silent Night." Nobody does it better.

Best Song: Marvin Gaye "Christmas In The City"

Ranging from Stevie Wonder originals like "What Christmas Means to Me" and "Someday At Christmas" to Jackson 5 covers of "Frosty The Snowman" and The Supremes singing "Joy To The World" this double-album cemented Motown's claim to be "the sound of young America."

Best Song: Darlene Love "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

Phil Spector's epic Wall of Sound production transforms these well-worn holiday chestnuts into pulse-pounding rock anthems, make this disc, orginally released on Phille Records, the greatest Christmas album of all time. Listening to The Crystals' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and The Ronettes' "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" make Kris Kingle sound like a real player. But nothing can match the bombastic impact of Darlene Love's extra-classic Christmas "(Baby Please Come Home)" except maybe the genius producer's grandiose monologue on the final track.